Mister Freeze
Dr. Victor Fries, through tragic circumstances, became known as the villain Mr. Freeze. History Fries was one of Gothcorp's most brilliant scientists and cryogenic researchers. When his wife, Nora became infected with a deadly disease, he developed a special freezing cell and planned to cryogenically hold her until a cure was found. The experiment, however, was interrupted by Ferris Boyle, C.E.O. of Gothcorp; A fight ensued, and the resulting explosion smashed Fries into his cryogenic freezing tanks. The accident soaked Dr. Fries's entire body with the freezing solution and rendered him unable to survive outside of a sub-zero environment. He vowed revenge on those who had wronged him and created a vacuum tight suit which maintained his body temperature at 50 degrees below zero and tripled his strength. After building a laser-powered cold gun, "Mister Freeze" was born. Driven by hatred over the destruction of his life and maddened by his condition, Mr. Freeze sought revenge on those that had victimized him. He first attacked Boyle and Gothcorp, and though his plan was stopped by Batman, the Dark Knight presented evidence that led to Boyle's arrest for his misdeeds. Freeze, however, was arrested, and placed into a sub-zero holding cell to live the rest of his days. Grant Walker discovered Nora's frozen (but living) body. An entrepreneur and businessman, he used her as a bargaining chip to gain what Freeze had always seen as a curse: immortality. Freeze transformed Walker's cell structure to a frozen prison similar to Freeze's. Upon completion, Freeze betrayed Walker and destroyed the "utopian" society he'd been building. Freeze then secluded himself in a self-made ice block, floating to colder waters until he finally settled in the Arctic. He stayed there with Nora, continuing to look for a cure. Unfortunately for Freeze and Nora, an exploration crew inadvertently crashed into Freeze's home. The containment was destroyed and the deadly disease to progressed into its fatal stages. After freezing the entire crew of the sub, Freeze headed to Gotham City with Nora, his surrogate son Koonak and his two polar bears Notchka and Shaka, to enlist the aid of Gregory Belson. Belson, a head cryogenic researcher, had worked with Freeze prior to the accident. Though he was hesitant, Belson was eventually "persuaded" to aid Freeze. Together they found a way to cure Nora's disease, but it required an organ transplant. With no deceased donors available, they were forced to pursue a live one. The "donor" they chose was Barbara Gordon, and they proceeded to kidnap her. However, Dick Grayson was present during the kidnapping, and though he failed to save Barbara, he was aware of Freeze's plot. Batman and Robin managed to interrupt the operation before it took take place; the battle that ensued caused Freeze's lair to explode. Batman, Robin, and Barbara were able to evacuate Nora and Koonak in time, but Freeze had fallen into the fiery blast and was assumed dead. In actuality, he and his polar bears survived and, for a time, wandered the Arctic. In Gotham, Nora was cured. She waited patiently for Victor to return, but he never made effort to contact her. In reality, the accident that had caused his "immortality" had actually deteriorated his body. Though his head was able to continue functioning, the rest of him withered away. He constructed an insect-like robotic carriage for his head, as well as a larger shell resembling his human form. Resigned that he would never again be united with his beloved Nora, a new layer of ice froze over Freeze's heart. Having lost that which was most precious to him, he resolved to stamp out warmth wherever it glowed. A newer, more powerful, and chillingly sardonic Mr. Freeze lost his obsession over his wife and instead concentrated on bringing misery to the people of Gotham and its protector, Batman. However, Batman and Batgirl stopped the plan, and Freeze disappeared. The head of Fries laid dormant for forty years before his destiny was intertwined with a new businessman: Derek Powers. Looking for a way to cure Powers' condition, Dr. Stephanie Lake proposed a cunning solution: transfer his consciousness to a new body. In order to test it, however, she needed an adequate subject. As Fries's condition was irreversible, the idea of a normal life was more than enough for Fries to cooperate. The process seemed to work, and Fries was temporarily restored to good heath. Eventually, though, his condition took a turn for the worse; as a result, Dr. Lake opted to terminate the experiment. Betrayed yet again, Mr. Freeze returned to exact revenge on those whom he felt wronged him, and after a confrontation with Blight and the new Batman Fries was assumed dead. Powers and Abilities As a result of the accident, Freeze's normal body temperature leaves him able to withstand levels of cold ordinarily fatal to other humans. The reverse of this is an extreme vulnerability to heat. A side effect of Freeze's condition is that his body's natural aging process slowed to the point where he was practically immortal. Freeze maintains his body's temperature with a cybernetic environmental suit that also triples his strength to superhuman levels and is heavily armored. Freeze's signature weapon is his "freeze gun," a ray gun that can create ice from airborne water vapor, or any nearby water source. Both the suit and gun are of Freeze's own invention, and he has developed several other pieces of technology that make him extremely dangerous. Revamp Much like the other characters of , Mr. Freeze underwent a stylistic change when the show transferred to . His changes were subtle, and the character's story was augmented with the introduction of his deteriorated body. Background Information * Mr. Freeze had been a rather poorly received, clownish "villain" from the old live action Batman television series and the DC Comics of the 1960s prior to . Paul Dini and Bruce Timm re-imagined the entire history and motivation of Mr. Freeze to produce a villain that could be taken as both a believable character and a deadly, serious threat. The creative team invented the character of the terminally ill Nora Fries to flesh out the backstory of a fully-realized tragic villain. It was the first complete overhaul of a pre-existing character in the DCAU, and to this day it is arguably the most successful. * The DCAU backstory on Mr. Freeze became so popular that it was used as the backstory in the Joel Shumacher film Batman & Robin (with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze) as well as incorporated into the comics. * Mr. Freeze's original character design for the series was done by comic book artist Mike Mignola, recently of Hellboy fame. Interestingly, Freeze bears a marked resemblance to other Mignola characters, most notably Herman von Klempt, a mad Nazi scientist whose disembodied head is kept in a glass tank and is attached to a robotic body. There is also a similarity with Mignola's The Amazing Screw-On Head. See also * DCAU Influences on Mainstream Comics Appearances * "Heart of Ice" * "Deep Freeze" Feature Film * Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero * "Cold Comfort" * "Gotham in Pink" * "Meltdown" * "Epilogue" Category:Batman Beyond-era characters Category:Batman Beyond rogues Category:Batman rogues Fries, Victor